We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Pat Lang a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Pat, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I paint a variety of subjects, to include still life, landscapes, and seascapes, But over the past few years I have been working on animals, both wildlife and domestic. I love animals, all animals, and I have a goal to show the character of the animal in my work. Whether I am painting wildlife or a domesticated animal, it is intriguing to me how their character and feelings are shown in their expressions. It is important and gratifying to me when painting a pet if I have been able to show their personality in the portrait, and particularly when doing a portrait for someone after the animal has passed. Knowing the joy the owners have when seeing the painting of their beloved animal is very rewarding to me.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am primarily a self-taught artist. The only instruction I have had was when my children were young. If I was able to go, I would attend a salon-type art shop in the evening where you could paint whatever you wished and local artist Bob Browne would go around the room and make suggestions to help you. I was able to do this off and on for a couple years. The most advantageous technique I received was on blending. As a realistic painter, blending has proved to be one of the most important techniques for my work. I have never attended any formal art instruction classes, but feel that may be to my benefit in developing my own style. Exploring ways to accomplish the effects I want to achieve in my paintings give me the confidence to not be afraid of trial and error. Making mistakes, or not being able to get the effect I want at first, aren’t deterrents for me, but rather cause me to persevere until I reach success in how I want the painting to look. I also learn a great deal by viewing paintings by other artists, pulling out from the paintings the techniques I feel I want to try and use in my own work.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I paint subjects that I want to paint. I paint to please myself. If I have work that fits into the theme of an art show, then I will apply for the show, but I do not normally create work specifically for that show. When I paint, the objective isn’t to sell, but to create. It gives me such pleasure just to create the painting, and it gives me a sense of peace and contentment in the process. Painting is a form of meditation for me, and all the worries and stresses are non-existent while I am working on my art. While I surely wish to sell my work, the sale to me is important because someone likes my work enough to invest in it. I paint subjects that inspire me, and if someone appreciates what I have created, that is what is so very rewarding to me.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I have been painting now for almost 60 years. Every time I prepare my palette and pick up my brush to begin the painting, I have a vision of how I want my painting to be when completed. However, I also know that along the path to create this work of art, challenges will present themselves that were not in my original mind’s view of the completed painting. Hopefully, I will be pleased with the final results and have accomplished my original vision, but the journey of learning and strengthening my skills in the process is very satisfying to me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.patlangartist.weebly.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/patlangartist
• Facebook: Facebook.com/patlangartist
• Other: http://msac.org/directory/artists/patricia-lang https://talbotartists.org/pat-lang/